


The Late Innovation, Or, Forty Times In Open Streets and Houses

by angevin2



Category: Hamlet - Shakespeare
Genre: Elizabethan, Gen, Humor, Meta, Pastiche
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-17
Updated: 2009-12-17
Packaged: 2017-10-04 12:25:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angevin2/pseuds/angevin2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Fortinbras takes over, he and the remaining government of Denmark have some annoying thespians to deal with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Late Innovation, Or, Forty Times In Open Streets and Houses

**The examination of Galfridus servant vnto the Lord Admiral and one of his players, taken this tenthe day of Febrvarie vpon hys oth.**

Hee sayeth that Thvrsday last the Prince Hamlet that hath since gone forth into England spak vnto hym in the presense of the lords Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The Prince hath requested thys Examinate to have the players present the playe of the Murther of Gonzago before his Majesty and the Court upon the euen following. Further he saith that the Prince asked him to sett in the sayd playe a Speech of some xii or xvi lynes that hee had set downe for the purpose. He sayeth that the Murder of Gonzago being an old playe, tending to fustian, he noted not the particvlar lines Prince Hamlet had sett downe.

***

**The examination of Sigismund servant vnto the Lord Admiral and one of his players, taken this tenth daye of Februarie vpon hys oth.**

He sayeth that master Galfridus spake vnto his fellowes Thursday last, this Examinate being present, that at the behest of Prince Hamlet thys cumpany vvould play the Murther of Gonzago vpon the following night. Whereupon this Examinate did protest that, that playe beeing so much out of vse, it was lyke to please the Court but little. Then dyd master Galfridus reply that the Prince wolde haue thys playe and no other, &amp; that they should haue xl_s._ more than their ordynary for yt, the which haue they nat receeued, on account of the Prince's late going forth. At which promisse they were content, and so played yt accordyngly.

***

**The examination of Alfred servant vnto the Lord Admiral and one of his players, taken this tenth daye of Febrvarie vpon hys oth.**

He sayeth that he hath been with the cumpany this two yeere &amp; hath plaied the Queene in the Murther of Gonzago some three or fower tymes, &amp; that hee made no speeches that were not yn the playe as he hath lerned yt. Hee sayeth also that he thynketh no yll of second marriages.

***

**Memorandum from Cornelius, Lord Chamberlain _pro tempore_ unto the Master of the Revels**

Aduise vnto the Players that his Maiestie, although dyspleased wyth their late sedicious action, vnderstandeth well that yt was the work of the lord Hamlet, and that hee wolde have them playe the play of the Dissembling Prynce before him after Prince Hamlet his departure for Englonde.

***

**Note from the Office of the Master of the Revels unto Cornelius, Lord Chamberlain _pro tempore_**

We beseech you, aske his Maiestie Kyng Fortinbras yf wee may haue leaue eyther to pay the Players their xl_s._ or else to hang them all? They swear they wyll nat leaue vntil they haue their monie, &amp; verily they are a plaguey nuisance!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to **a_t_rain** for indirectly giving me the idea for this fic. Assuming that _Hamlet_ predates 1601, it's interesting that Shakespeare anticipated the fate of [one of his own plays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_\(play\)#Historical_context). The form of the documents within the fic owe a great deal to the depositions of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, as found in E.K. Chambers' _William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems._
> 
> I had to make up the names of most of the players; it is really difficult to come up with suitable names for an imaginary Renaissance Denmark in which people have names like "Voltimand" and "Laertes." Galfridus is in honor of Geoffrey Tennant from _Slings &amp; Arrows,_ which you should totally watch, if you haven't, and Alfred, of course, derives his name from Stoppard's _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead._


End file.
